Sometimes Fear Is Good! | World No Tobacco Day

On this World Anti Tobacco day, I’m not going to tell you the harmful effects of tobacco. Why? Because it is now ubiquitous, tobacco is dangerous, and it kills. According to World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco kills half of its users. The total number of consumers of tobacco is 1.8 billion people.

Every year more than 8 million people die because of tobacco’s adverse effects. Can you believe it? 8 million? It is more than the population of countries like Hong Kong. The shocking and depressing news is that, out of these 8 million deaths, 7 million are direct tobacco users, while 1.2 million are those who passively consumed tobacco, such as second-hand smoke.

Various types of tobacco products are there on the market, and tobacco smoking is the most common way used to consume it; however, all of them are harmful in one way or another.

Apart from the stats that show the side effects of tobacco, what is the most significant thing that can push tobacco consumers to stop using it?

It’s “FEAR”…!

Fear of harming your health!

Fear of mortality rate!

…And so on!

What if someone thinks about their beloved ones before consuming tobacco? For example, if a tobacco consumer imagines their beloved ones losing him due to tobacco consumption? Will he consume the tobacco now? Maybe he will consume it because of heavy cravings, addiction, and low willpower. But continuously doing the same practice can create fear inside the consumer. One day, his willpower will become more powerful than his cravings.

This is why the Government has made it mandatory to mention on the tobacco products that “Tobacco is injurious to health and it causes cancer”. Showing an illustrative image of disease on the product is also a mandatory thing. You may have seen that all types of tobacco products in India follow the Government’s guidelines.

But…!

This mandatory instruction needs to be optimized in some way. It has been a long since the Government and the tobacco product sellers and marketers have used the same method.

What if they put some emotional messages on the tobacco products that trigger some in-depth thoughts in consumers’ minds?

For example, a women’s favourite cigarette brand can put something like,

“Smoker mums pass nicotine to the babies through breastfeeding”. 

For a men’s cigarette brand, it can be something like,

“Fathers share 40% of cigarette smoke with their kids as second-hand smoke.” 

For a generic message, it can be like this:

“Thousands of smokers can’t become parents. It causes infertility!”

It can be anything that creates fear inside the smoker and make his mind powerful enough to combat the addiction and cravings. Here is another example to align it with the World No Tobacco Day Theme 2022, “Protect The Environment“.

This theme can be like, “You are killing 3 things! Tobacco crops cause deforestation, Consumption causes cancer, and its residues like cigarette butts pollute the environment”. 

 It is all about having fear in mind, and the rest of the part will be done. Fear generating facts will encourage tobacco consumers to quit as soon as possible.

Willpower Will Empower…

Fear can help, but willpower is the most effective tool to help tobacco consumers quit. On this World No Tobacco Day, let’s pledge to make good use of this “Fear” strategy. Whether you are a smoker or not, you must learn the importance of World No Tobacco Day and try to contribute. On this, World Anti Tobacco Day, bring that fear out and let’s encourage others (or maybe yourself) to quit the use of tobacco.

-Pankaj Rai